Sooteater question (probably a dumb one)

[Soundchasm]

Howdy,

I get both stoves rigorously cleaned annually by a pro. Will continue under all circumstances. Have made substantial progress in burning drier and drier wood. What a welcome difference. I don't run my stoves at the temps many seem to routinely achieve, but that stuff is for another post someday.

What I have accomplished is burning 3-4 cords already this season. Never done that before. Here's my dumb question.

I feel I ought to take a mid-season pass at the stacks, bottom-up on both stoves. Best guess w/o climbing the snowy roof is that one flue is 8" and the other 6".

Should I definitely get two spin heads - one for each flue? Part of me wonders if the head is soft enough that an 8" head would fit in a 6" flue, or maybe a 6" head would bang around and get the worst in the 8" flue. I think I already know the answer... Thanks. Also, surely the 18' would be enough for the soot-and-scoot operation I envision. Single story with a basement.

FYI, I'll get a mechanical buddy to help me. I envy folks with mechanical skills. The only stuff I work on that's not finger-tight is the stuff I've got cross-threaded.

 

[jatoxico]

The string line is replaceable so you ought to be able to have a set cut for both sizes.

 

[fire_man]

It would be a real pain to change the string size for each spin head, but not totally impractical. I'm not sure if they sell just the spin head, if they did and it was say $10 I'd do it for sure.

I was kind of frustrated with the sooteater last time I used it. My cleanout "T" sits kind of low near the floor so I have to bend the rods somewhat to get them in, but the real pain is snapping and unsnapping each rod as it goes up the pipe. The latches get kind of stuck and I'm working at odd angles in a tight fireplace opening. It works, but it was definitely MUCH quicker and easier on my back when I just pulled a rope down from the top with a SS brush.

 

[blueguy]

It would be a real pain to change the string size for each spin head, but not totally impractical. I'm not sure if they sell just the spin head, if they did and it was say $10 I'd do it for sure.

Spare heads can be found here for about $20CAD IIRC. I would just leave the lines trimmed at 8" and use it for both.

 

[fire_man]

That should work, but it will beat up the lines quicker. Lines are cheap.

 

[blueguy]

In the lawn and garden section of the big box stores here, containers of the same type and diametre of trimmer line run about $10. Based on my own experience with actual string trimmer usage, I don't really think having 8" lines in a smooth walled 6" pipe is going to do a whole lot of damage.

 

[dave_376]

Just use 1 head with the lines trimmed to to fit the 8" pipe. 9 inch lines should give you about 4.5" radius (9" Diameter), that way you will still touch the walls after some has warn away.

 

[Soundchasm]

OK, that's encouraging. So the string must be like weedwhip string, and that is flexible. So I'll get one complete kit and trim it for the big flue (that's the one I worry the most about. She and I have a little history... One torrid evening brought on by too much wet wood. We've kept it professional ever since.). Then I ought to be able to insert the thing into the 6" flue and do less harm than good. Excellent.

Ordered a kit from Ideal True Value for $40 and $10 shipping, so maybe I'll see it next week. I stumbled across a spin head only, so I'll park that info for later.

All I need now is to find a friend who understands left-loosey righty-tighty and can count parts. Tonight I took apart a clogged S-trap under a vanity. It made no sense whatsoever. When I got it working again I had parts left over! No idea what some of those things were doing!

 

[DanCorcoran]

All I need now is to find a friend who understands left-loosey righty-tighty and can count parts. Tonight I took apart a clogged S-trap under a vanity. It made no sense whatsoever. When I got it working again I had parts left over! No idea what some of those things were doing!

Did you have a clear collar left over, perhaps 1/4" - 3/8" wide? If so, we'll explain where that goes and why it's important (they often come off before you notice they were there and where they came from).

 

[Soundchasm]

Did you have a clear collar left over, perhaps 1/4" - 3/8" wide? If so, we'll explain where that goes and why it's important (they often come off before you notice they were there and where they came from).

OK, buckle up as we take a quick swerve off-topic. Hope fully the mods will let it slide if we're brief. The S trap photo is current. The straight piece of PVC in the second pic came off the chrome(?) vertical pipe. It was pushed up several inches onto the chrome pipe. It had a big clear kind of washer in it that was making the seal. I took the gasket/washer out of it and put it over the chrome pipe. Then I dropped a 1-1/4" plastic washer into the PVC S. I was able to tap the S up as far as it needed to go. Then tightened the threaded cap on the chrome side, but for what reason, I can't tell.

I had stuck one of those 1-1/4" O-rings down in the S that mated with the PVC.

One of the tools in my toolbox is to stop leaks by fusing them shut using only profanity. Hope the description above makes sense. Thanks.

 

[blueguy]

Looks to me like you had another tailpiece over the one off the drain.

BTW, we must shop at the same tool shop - profanity is one of my most regularly used weapons of repair here for all jobs

 

[begreen]

Take the plumbing question to the DIY forum here and you will get more answers of better quality.

 

[Soundchasm]

OK, completely uncharacteristically, I started and finished a job!! Did both stoves today, bottoms-up. The old one downstairs was a real education. The stack wasn't bad. BUT, the stove's air chamber on the top and back was way worse than I care to admit. But I think I cleaned stuff that hadn't been touched since manufacture. Some was reddish-brown, some dull-black and flaky, and shiny black was the least in quantity. I took my time and scraped, vac'd, and then took my glove off to get a tactile sense of clean. Over a gallon of stuff came out. Nobody that didn't own that thing would have been so thorough.

On the Jotul, I had 3/4 gal. of stuff that looked amazingly like Folgers Instant Coffee powder. Possibly decaf. Cross between instant coffee and cocoa, including texture.

To put this in context, just did the math and calculate 5.2 cords burned. Wood was not perfect, but close to 20% if not under. Now I have food for thought to evaluate my scrounge, split, store and burn practices.

What a relief to have done this. I wasn't in any danger that I know of, but the end of the season worries me the most. Burning the worst wood left in ever-cooler fires. Now I can happily wait for my sweep this October.